foreclosure and bankruptcy

[filingsoon]

My ex husband (whom I'm now back together with) is planning on filing for bankruptcy to get out of the house since being unemployed for most of the past two years has finally taken it's toll and the house has become too much of a burdern after Wells Fargo modified the 2nd mortgage without his permission and increased the payment. The loan is about 50K over the current value of the house and it needs another 25K-50K in repairs so now is a good time to walk away by filing a Chapter 7if its possible. I looked around the foreclosure forum and still can't find a timeline of what steps happen in a foreclosure.

He has received a notice of Default and Acceleration letter with a payment due on October 12, 2010.

We can't make the payment so what will happen on October 13th?

Should he file his chapter 7 before the 12th or wait until after?

Is it best to wait until the property is in actual foreclosure? Oregon is a non-judicial and judicial state but mostcommon is the non-judicial process. Obviously I would like to have some extra time here since we did spend about 8K in the past few months trying to keep the house before realizing it's just too much to handle.

How long is it until you have to move out of the house after you declare that you will surrender it in the BK filing?

Is it best to wait until they foreclose to file a bankruptcy or do it beforehand?

Any suggestions for website resources would be great to find out more about the accelleration/foreclosure process.

Will this have any impact on BK filing which was already discharged, I have no interest in the house.

[barzini32]

Wait it out

Couple questions:

- What bank holds the first loan (is it Wells Fargo as well?)
- How many payments has he missed so far?

I think you should wait it out. Don't be scared and intimidated by those letters. That's their job. They have to send out those notices when you miss payments.

As far as how much time he has before foreclosure, I'd say anywhere from 3 months to over a year. You should receive a notice of a Trustee sale with advanced notice of the sale date. I'd wait until after you receive letter of an actual Trustee sale date before pulling the trigger and filing for BK. Once you file BK, that buys you another 2 to 4 months or more. An automatic stay will occur once you file BK. For example, let's say the Trustee sale was scheduled for Dec.20th. If you file Dec.13th, that sale date is postponed. Milk it for all it's worth. Live rent/mortgage free and save as much money as you can.

My situation:

- I live in CA. Was behind about 6 months when I ended up filing BK
- I had been trying to do a short sale on my property. I received multiple offers but the bank just would not accept
- I received a call from my real estate guy on a Friday at noon saying that he tried everything and they would not budge. He recommended BK since the Trustee sale date was scheduled for Monday
- I saw a BK attorney immediately and he filed the paperwork with the courts around 5PM that same day
- Trustee sale postponed! I'm awaiting discharge. The Chapter 7 process has taken about 3 months so far.

Anyway, the recent news is good for those worried about foreclosures. Looks like BofA and Wells Fargo will be delaying foreclosures to get their act together. They've been cutting corners and not doing their due diligence and going through the proper legal steps. Link here:

Edit: I can't post links since I'm a newbie, but do a Google search for "Bank of America delays foreclosures". This hit the headlines Oct.1st.

[discouraged]

If you have a mortgage prevention office (for ex: in MN the City has an office I went to) but there is a federal site also through HUD 1-800-995-HOPE which can direct you to an office. They should have the timeline for your state.

[filingsoon]

Thanks for your replies. Went to the library today and checked out Nolo's "The Foreclosure Survival Guide" great book with a lot of information. Barzini32 is correct the book states a rough timeline and all the state info in the appendix. In Oregon I found out that it's a nonjudicial state and once Wells Fargo (holder of both mortgages) records a notice of default we have 120 days after they send us a notice of sale. Plus more time since the book says to wait until after the notice of sale is received. I think we can wait for about six to six and a half months which should be good enough to save some money and prepare for the move. Thanks discouraged I will be doing a websearch for Oregon's office too. Highly recommend the book for anyone who doesn't know about foreclosures like me. I should have known to check Nolo first, since they are the main resource along with this website that I used when I did my BK by myself. I'm going to do his as well.